Tunnels in Palestine

  4 killed in Rafah tunnel collapse

Khan Younis men reportedly tried to repair Rafah smuggling tunnel hit in IDF airstrike last week

Elior Levy Published: 04.12.11, 22:28 / Israel News

Gaza officials say four Palestinians were killed Tuesday while reportedly trying to repair a smuggling tunnel near Rafah that was hit in an Israeli airstrike last week. Five other people were also injured in the collapse.

Rescue forces warned other tunnels face a similar fate.

According to reports, the four men killed were 20 to 30 years of age from the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.
There are hundreds of tunnels under the 9-mile Gaza-Egypt border, used for smuggling goods and people into Gaza. Israel claims that weapons and ammunition, including rockets that can hit Israeli cities, reach Gaza through the tunnels. The Hamas government receives most of its gas and diesel oil supplies this way.


Israel hits tunnels in airstrikes, in retaliation for rocket attacks from Gaza. But there have been no airstrikes in the past two days.
The Air Force carried out several strikes in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday night, bombing three smuggling tunnels and a tunnel supporting terrorist activity in the northern Strip.

Hamas and Gaza health officials said the four Palestinians died as they worked underground. In the past three years, about 160 workers have been killed in the tunnels, human rights groups say.